February 26, 2006

The book is a fiction written around the events of Babri Masjid demolition and the riot that followed. The story revolved round an American social worker, Priscilla, who has come to India to work in a small town in UP and the district collector, Lakshman. Overall it is a good read. here is a small passage from the book... (I almost could have written these lines :)

Lakshman to Priscilla

Why do I pray? And how? And to whom? So many questions! Well I'm a Hindu - I was born one, and I've never been attracted to any other faith. I'll tell you why in a minute. How do I pray? Not in any organized form, really; I go to temple some times with my family, but they leave me cold. I think of prayer as something intensely personal, a way of reaching my hands out towards my maker. I recite some mantras my parents taught me as a child; there is something reassuring about those ancient words, hallowed by use and repetition over thousands of years. Sacred Sanskrit, a language alive only in heaven and kept from dying here on earth so that we can be understood when we address the gods. But I often supplement the mantras with incantation of my own in Tamil and English, asking for certain kinds of guidance or protection for myself or those who I love.

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Yes, I pray to Hindu gods. It's not that I believe that there is, somewhere in heaven, a god that looks like a Bombay calendar artist's image of him. It's simply that prayer is a way of acknowledging a divinity beyond human experience; and since no human has had direct sight of God, all visual representations of the divine are merely crutches, helping flawed and limited human beings to imagine the unimaginable. Why not a corpulent elephant-headed god with a broken tusk? Why is that image any less real or inspiring of devotion than a suffering man on a cross? So yes, I pray to Ganapati, and to Vishnu and Shiva, and to my memory of a faded calendar portrait of Ram and Sita in my parents' prayer room. These are just ways of imagining God, and I pray in order to touch those forces and sources of life that go beyond the human.

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Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals; no organized church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred book. The name itself denotes something less, and more than a set of theological beliefs. In many languages, the word for "Indian" is "Hindu". Originally "Hindu" simply meant the people beyond the river Sindhu, or Indus. But the word "Hindu" did not exist in any language till its use by foreigners gave Indians a term for self-definition.

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"Hinduism" is the name others applied to the indigenous religion of India, which many Hindus simply call Sanatana Dharam, the eternal faith. It embraces an eclectic range of doctrines and practices, from pantheism to agnosticism and from faith in reincarnation to belief in cast system. But none of these constitutes and obligatory credo for a Hindu: there are none.

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Every morning, after his bath, my father would stand in front of the prayer alcove, wrapped in his towel; his wet hair still uncombed, and chants his Sanskrit mantras. But he never obliged me to join him; he exemplified the Hindu idea that religion is an intensely personal matter; that the prayer is between you and whatever image of your maker you choose to worship. In the Hindu way, I was to find my own truth. Like most Hindus, I think I have. I am, as I told you, a believer, despite a brief period of schoolboy atheism - of the kind that comes with the discovery of rationality and goes with the realization that the world offers too many wondrous mysteries for which science has no answer.

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As a Hindu I claim adherence to a religion without an established church or priestly papacy, a religion whose rituals and customs I am free to reject., a religion that does not oblige me to demonstrate my faith by any visible sign, by subsuming my identity in any collectivity, not even by a specific day or time or frequency of worship. As a Hindu, I subscribe to a creed that is free of the restrictive dogmas of holy writ, that refuses to be shackled to limitations of a single holy book.

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Above all, as a Hindu I belong to the only major religion in the world that does not claim to be the only true religion. I find it immensely congenial to be able to face my fellow human beings of other faiths without being burdened by the conviction that I am embarked upon a "true path" that they have missed. This dogma lies at the core of religions like Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Take your faith: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me", says the Bible, Book of John chapter 14, verse 6. Or Islam: "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet", declares the Koran - denying unbelievers all possibility of redemption, let alone of salvation or paradise. Hinduism, however, asserts that all ways of belief are equally valid, and Hindu readily venerates the saints, and the sacred objects of other faiths. There is no such thing as a Hindu heresy.

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I am proud of my Hinduism: I take pride in its diversity, in its openness, in religious freedom. When the great Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda electrified the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, he said he was proud of Hinduism's acceptance of all religions as true. And he quoted an ancient Hindu hymn: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so O lord, the different oaths which men take, all lead to thee". My own father taught me Vedic shlok "Aa no bhadrah kratvo yantu vishwatah"- "Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions of the universe". Every schoolchild knows the motto "Ekam sad, viprah bahuda vadantu" - "Truth is one, the sages give it various names".

February 14, 2006

Recently while reading through Wikipedia, came accross a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. Apparently, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." from “Gone With The Wind”, tops the chart followed by "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." from “The Godfather”. I think, if such a list be ever created for Bollywood movies, Gabbar's immortal lines "Kitne Aadmi The" OR "Are O Sambha", will be at the top.

Thought of compiling my own favorite list. So, here it goes:

“And, when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

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: The Alchemist

“It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, very often you get it.”

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: William Somerset Maugham

“Accidents don't happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.”

February 05, 2006

You are something of an enigma. The only person who really know you is yourself. You have the power of acting a part in life that is totally different from your true self. You possess considerable magnetic power and you can use it for good or for ill. How you do use it depends entirely on your own desires. Fortunately, you are usually able to control your actions for good and the result is that your magnetic power sheds a beneficial influence on others.You are capable and admire efficiency. It takes a great deal to make you rise up and rend your adversary. You are shrewd in financial matters.

You have several excellent qualities. You are highly sympathetic, which makes you a good friend. You are loyal and patriotic and are thus a first class citizen. You are, or would be a most lovable parent. You are, or would be, everything that your partner could desire. Clearly, the good qualities of yours far outweigh the others.

You are a courageous person. You are so impulsive, there is no time to worry or fear your actions. You have periodic flashes of such insight that your intuition borders on genius. Many seek your company, for there is much excitement about you. An excellent character reader, you are often attracted to the occult, which gives you a deeper understanding of life. Your remarkable vision enables you to forge ahead and be successful in understanding any difficulties that are preventing your growth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3). LIFE STYLE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are motivated to enhance your sex life. If other factors make you feel that material possessions are a requirement, you are motivated to gain much money. Whatever your goals, however, sex is the motivating factor. Recognise this, and rather than fight it, use it to best advantage.

Since you like to unite both sides of an argument, law and justice would be good fields for you. You could also do well as labour mediator and any other positions in industry where you are called upon to create and maintain peace and harmony. Try to stay clear of profession which require instant and constant decision, because you find difficulty in making them quickly.

Your inherent push and go are very useful acquirements. Whilst others are debating, you are acting, and it is the early bird that gets the worm. You should cast away all thought of taking up a profession or occupation that requires polish and gentleness. You are far too practical to bother about surface qualities. They irritate you. You are a person of action and prefer rough and ready efficiency to anything else. You could play the part of an explorer admirably, both in real life and on the films. You would be far better as a surgeon than as finance consultant. At any job where skill in making things was needed, you would succeed. Engineering may be cited as such a job. There are many occupations at sea which would suit you extraordinarily well. As an aviator, you would display the requisite pluck and daring. There are endless fields for your energies in work connected with land. Not only would you make an excellent farmer, but you would do equally well as a surveyor, a mining engineer and a prospector.

While you are not actually robust, there are few reasons, however, why you should be concerned about your health. Your chief ailments will be more imaginary than real. Nevertheless, they will cause you a certain amount of unnecessary anxiety. You look into yourself too much and wonder why this or that has happened, when, in reality, it is nothing worth thinking twice about. You are apt to read medical books, and your imaginations manufacture the symptoms of dread diseases. You may suffer from throat troubles at some time or other. Avoid drugs, except those prescribed by a doctor. Lead a natural life, have plenty of sleep, take sufficient exercise and eat sensibly.

Travel is the pastime which appeals to you most, had you the leisure and the money to indulge in it wholeheartedly. As it is, you may have to content yourself with lesser diversion. Card-playing is welcomed and there is no doubt that you are able to derive a good deal of pleasure by making things - it may be anything from a wireless set to a batch of photographic prints or even a software.

There is no such thing as a platonic friendship where people like you are concerned. When you love, you love with an ardour that is unquenchable. You seldom change your affections, once you have been definitely expressed. However, anyone in the role of a rival is dealt with ruthlessly and may be with force.

In matter of finance, you need have nothing to fear. Great opportunities will come across your path. Out of nothing you could create much, your only danger being that of undermining your resources by going in for large schemes of a speculative nature. You will be a puzzle to your friends as well as to yourself in question of finance. You will employ money, you make in odd and unusual ways. As a general rule, you will be lucky in making money and in the accumulation of possessions, especially in connection with land, houses or estate property business if you make up your mind to go in for such things.

My bike had a minor accident in recent past; though I wasn't the one riding it nor did even the pillion (caused me some bucks and lots of time).

Still wasn’t able to get the bike serviced and haven’t noticed the problems with it.

Anyway, though I get the fuel tank filled all the time, except when the servicing is overdue. So few days back I poured around couple of liter in its big fat belly (that’s nothing if you consider its 18 liters capacity). In normal time, that’s enough to pull me for 100KMs. Or as I thought…

I was going to Airport road from Koramangla…peeked at the trip meter while crossing the petrol pump near Naveen terrace…It showed 70…

“Still can go at least 25kms…No problem, I’ll get it refueled at Airport road” (don’t trust all the PPs in Bangalore)

Moved ahead…crossed the signal before the Ring road…traffic was more than usual, seems there was a minor accident at the next turn (when the people will learn)…crossed the place of accident…A bike was hit by an Esteem, or vice versa, but no blood stains around…(my bike still have few)…

2kms into the Ring road at 100 and engine suddenly skipped a beat (my heart too, along with it). It can’t…It simply can’t happen…just 73kms in 2 liters!!!...and petrol pump is al least 4kms on either side (actually 4 in the forward).

As going back meant climbing a steep road, so decided to move (push) forward.

“OMG!!! I’ve to push through this rotten traffic…take a huge diversion near ISRO colony…a terrible turn near Shanti Sagar…then crawl through the slow traffic at the Airport road!!!”

On a normal day, I had to think n times, before walking that god-forbidden route and pushing a 100kg demon along “OMG again”. But all I was able to think was “WHY!!!”. “I don’t deserve this, for I am not the one who caused the accident”. And a feeling of pure red anger started inside. I wasn’t cursing, I wasn’t screaming, but every single cell of my body was burning beyond description. And probably that anger became my fuel, gave me power and strength that I didn’t even notice the stern perspiration pouring through my forehead down my neck.

I have had heard/read about incidents when some emotion induces such a huge amount of adrenaline, that a person gets strength much beyond his normal capacity. It was my first realization of this fact in person.

February 04, 2006

How many times in our life, we stop and ponder over the reason we live or want to live. The very purpose of getting up everyday, going through all the daily chorus, going out to study/work/or just wander around and returning back to sleep to get up next day again? What does come to our mind when someone asks - "How is life?". Why do most of the time we try to shrug off the question and answer in the most predictable way instead of gathering courage and asking the same question to ourselves. But whether we wish it or not, this question comes again and again to haunt and leave most of without any concrete answer.

One of my friends said "Right now my life is about waiting for each opportunity I get to go back to home and spend some time with my family". Some said "I’m waiting to finish my studies and get myself a decent job". Then there was another "I'm waiting to get married before I plan my next course of life". So is the life an endless wait, one after another, chasing something outside of our own, never trying to seek inside and finding what actually can make us happy with the time that is NOW. No, I don’t mean that one should not have dreams and desire to move forward in life. But is life all about getting a good education, a loving and caring spouse, a well paid job and above all recognition from the society. Is it not possible for anyone to live life for the purpose of enjoying every moment of it without tying our happiness with something not inherent in us?

This is a beutiful story written by Mary Stevenson, i read long back, still give me same feeling everytime i read it.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamedhe was walking along the beach with the GOD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.For each scene he noticed two sets offootprints in the sand: one belongingto him, and the other to the GOD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path ofhis life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the verylowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and hequestioned the LORD about it:

"My Father, you said that once I decided to followyou, you'd walk with me all the way.But I have noticed that during the mosttroublesome times in my life,there is only one set of footprints.I don't understand why whenI needed you most you would leave me."

GOD replied:

"My son, my precious child,I love you and I would never leave you.During your times of trial and suffering,when you see only one set of footprints,it was then that I carried you."

This first post by me is suppose to be an introduction of myself, so here I'm. This is Me!!! Finished my Post graduation in Computer Applications very recently. Currently working in an MNC software company in India’s IT capitol and enjoying my single life. As a believer in “Jeevet Sharad Shatam!”, I’ve just sailed through the quarter of the voyage of my days on this beautiful planet.

Pretty content with my life as it is, I love great food, great cloths and great everything. I like to go out long into unknown till the fuel tank start complaining, like to watch cool movies but not too much into it. And Oh! I’ve been labeled a “book worm”. I have a taste for most of good (and some bad) things of life, but never try to overdo anything.

And yes, though I have some very good friends to cherish lovely moments of life, yet I enjoy solitude as much. Even being more on the extrovert side, you’ll sometime find me very quiet, sitting for hours without a word, up to a level of boredom.